The Severity Order or Reichenau Order was the name given to an order promulgated within the German Sixth Army on the Eastern Front during World War II by Generalfeldmarschall Walter von Reichenau on 10 October 1941. [1] [2]
The Severity Order or Reichenau Order was the name given to an order promulgated within the German Sixth Army on the Eastern Front during World War II by Generalfeldmarschall Walter von Reichenau on 10 October 1941. [1] [2]
The order said, in part: [3] [4]
—Conduct of Troops in Eastern Territories
The order paved the way for mass murder of Jews. [5] [2] All Jews were henceforth to be treated as partisans, and commanders were directed that they be either summarily shot or handed over to the Einsatzgruppen execution squads of the SS-Totenkopfverbände as the situation dictated. [5] Other dispositions complain about feeding civilians and POWs, which is described as an "equally misunderstood humanitarian act"; indeed, the taking of partisans and women as POWs is criticised. Finally, the civilian population was to be disarmed and buildings which had been set on fire by Soviet destruction battalions were to be saved only when useful to the German Army.
Upon hearing of the Severity Order, Reichenau's superior Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt expressed "complete agreement" with it, and sent out a circular to all of the army generals under his command urging them to send out their own versions of the Severity Order, which would impress upon the troops the need to exterminate Jews. [6] According to Wilhelm Adam, when Reichenau died and General Friedrich Paulus assumed command of the Sixth Army, both the Severity Order and Adolf Hitler's Commissar Order were rescinded in his command sector. [7]
During the Nuremberg trials, Rundstedt denied any knowledge of that order before his capture by the Allies, although he acknowledged that Reichenau's orders "may have reached my army group and probably got into the office". [8]
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The soldier in the eastern territories is not merely a fighter according to the rules of the art of war but also a bearer of ruthless national ideology and the avenger of bestialities which have been inflicted upon German and racially related nations. Therefore the soldier must have full understanding for the necessity of a severe but just revenge on subhuman Jewry. The Army has to aim at another purpose, i.e., the annihilation of revolts in hinterland which, as experience proves, have always been caused by Jews